Mote researcher nominated for Indianapolis Prize

Dr. Randall Wells, Mote Marine Laboratory senior scientist and program manager of the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, is one of 39 nominees for the Indianapolis Prize, the world’s top award for animal conservation.

Other nominees include anthropologist Jane Goodall and conservation leader Carl Safina.

Wells began studying bottlenose dolphins as a high-school volunteer at Mote in 1970 and went on to receive his Ph.D. in biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1986.

As director of the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, he oversees the longest-running study of a wild dolphin population. The program is a collaboration between the Chicago Zoological Society and Mote that began at Mote in 1970.

The pool of nominees will be narrowed down to six finalists who will be revealed in spring of 2014. A winner will be announced mid-2014 and honored at the next Indianapolis Prize Gala presented by Cummins Inc. The winner will receive $250,000; the five other finalists will each receive $10,000.

Contact Robin Hartill at [email protected].